group 1 handicaps & the irreplaceable.

​Not all proposals have legs, including mine own. And while some proposals leap from the page as unconsidered common-sense, others might only have a grain of possibility about them.
In today’s Racing Post, Jonny Pearson makes the argument that British racing should copy the success of the Melbourne Cup and inject our racing programme with some Group 1 handicaps. Firstly, I am grateful for Jonny Pearson bringing to my attention that the Melbourne Cup is a Group 1. In my ignorance this fact had escaped me all these years. Secondly, and this applies also to our Little National at Aintree, why does Australia’s most famous and prestigious race need any classification other than its title? The Melbourne Cup is the Melbourne Cup – it is one of the world’s greatest, if not greatest, flat races. It is Australia’s equivalent to Aintree’s ‘Little’ National. 
The proposal, though, is worthy of debate, with York’s Ebor the most obvious candidate for Group 1 status. I am of the opinion that none of our traditional Group 1’s are in need of being turned into Group 1 handicaps, and cannot imagine a race like the Ebor would be improved by being upgraded to Group 1 class.
Where the idea has genuine possibilities, in my estimation, is lower down the echelon of higher-grade races. To me, there are far too many listed races, all for the purpose of giving as much black type to as many fillies and mares as the stud-book will sustain. It is nonsense to me that the value of a filly or mare rises substantially if it should have finished fourth of five in a listed race on the all-weather. Although, through the season, many of these races can be competitive, as they are seen as easy stepping-stones to future glory by our leading stables, often they are uncompetitive due to one horse dominating the market. Here is where I would start having Group status handicaps. Group 3, obviously.
In fact, I would like to designate all Group 3 races as limited handicaps, thus allowing badly-handicapped horses the opportunity of winning races again and, again, hopefully, stopping what is usual for Group 3’s, one horse dominated races. Unlike National Hunt trainers, I believe their leading flat contemporaries, as they have access to blue-blooded home-bred colts and fillies, can have an easy time of it with so many listed and Group 2 and 3 races that are in the calendar with them especially in mind.
Let us start by transforming half the listed races in the calendar into handicaps and all of the Group 3’s into valuable limited handicaps. Leave the Group 2’s alone and perhaps consider having a single Group 1 handicap, whether that be a new race, one of the ‘lesser’ traditional Group 1’s or to upgrade one of the present prestige handicaps, the Ebor being the most obvious candidate.

Due to a toothache that is not a toothache until, without warning or due to any interference on my part, becomes a raging bull of a pain, I allowed myself to indulge in YouTube videos featuring the irreplaceable Alastair Down, many of which were uploaded by the Racing Post. In one video, he took the viewer, after giving away his address, on his traditional car journey to Cheltenham racecourse. Unscripted, with only a cameraman for company, he took us to Stow-on-the-Wold, over the high plains of the Cotswold, to Winchcombe and Postlip, allowing us an insight into his encyclopaedic knowledge of wars 1 and 2, local knowledge – ‘slaughter’, as in Lower and Higher, apparently is an old English word for ‘very muddy’ – and a reminder of who Kim Muir was and why he is honoured with having a race named after him at the Cheltenham Festival. He also stopped off at the Old Plough at Ford to give it a plug as the most popular drinking establishment during his beloved Cheltenham Festival. It was a small tour-de-force that only someone of Alastair’s calibre could achieve.
I expect Cheltenham have it in hand, but I hope Alastair is the next of racing’s dignitaries to have the National Hunt Chase named in his honour.